Protest at Niche factory in New Bedford over layoffs

SIMÓN RIOS

Saturday

Jun 7, 2014 at 12:01 AMJun 7, 2014 at 3:45 PM

NEW BEDFORD — Ratcheting up the pressure for a lawsuit against South End manufacturing firm Niche Inc., Centro Comunitario Trabajadores staged a protest more than two years after the company laid off some 400 workers.

NEW BEDFORD — Ratcheting up the pressure for a lawsuit against South End manufacturing firm Niche Inc., Centro Comunitario Trabajadores staged a protest more than two years after the company laid off some 400 workers.

"I worked for this company for four years," said Pedro De La Cruz, one of two defendants in a suit charging federal labor violations.

"We're here because they let us go unjustly," said De La Cruz, speaking in Spanish through a bullhorn to about 30 people at Thursday's protest in the rain. "They gave us the news but it was about 3 p.m. (on the day of the layoff), and nobody knew we were going to be laid off."

"They exploited us."

Located in a Cove Street mill building, Niche manufactures sewn and machine goods, as well as military parachutes. The company cut more than half its 740-person workforce in April 2012 when its government contracts were reduced.

In November 2012, De La Cruz and Julio Torres sued Niche, saying the company failed to provide sufficient notice of the "mass layoff." The lawsuit claims the layoff violated the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, or WARN, which requires that workers be given 60 days in advance of certain plant closings and mass layoffs.

Niche co-owner Roland Letendre said he wasn't aware of Thursday's protest. He declined comment, referring The Standard-Times to a statement which said the layoff was caused by "unforeseen circumstances out of (Niche's) control."

The statement went on to say the layoff occurred after Niche learned that the government's demand for parachutes would suddenly be reduced.

"As a result, Niche was forced to lay off hundreds of employees," the statement said. "Niche sympathizes with the troubles faced by the laid-off employees and, like them, wishes the layoff had not been necessary."

Filed in U.S. District Court in Boston, the class action suit was brought on behalf of Torres and De La Cruz and all other workers similarly let go. They are seeking damages amounting to 60 days of wages, which could total more than $1 million, according to attorney Thomas Smith, who is representing the workers. He estimated that it could apply to 315 former Niche employees.

In January 2013, Niche sought to have the case thrown out, denying that either of the defendants was terminated and rejecting the characterization of a "mass layoff."